Ramallah – MIFTAH project manager Tamara Tamimi recently participated in an international conference organized by An Najah National University’s Women’s Studies Program, entitled “Women between Patriarchy and Colonialism: Women’s Experiences Under Occupation and Colonialism”. The conference was organized in conjunction with the office of the Vice President for External and International Affairs and in partnership with the General Union of Palestinian Women on April 15.

Tamimi presented a paper entitled “The Protection of Women from Violence in Times of Armed Conflict: Palestinian Women as a Case Study” in which she showcased the most important points of her research, including the available protection for civilians from violence within the frameworks of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and international criminal law. She then moved to a presentation of the most flagrant forms of violence exercised by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people as a whole, which have a compounded and disproportionate impact on women.

Tamimi also highlighted the causes of continued violence against civilians in general and women in particular, in times of armed conflict, including factors within the structural and normative frameworks of international law, the mechanisms and means of accountability and approaches by the international community regarding the Palestinian people. Tamimi maintained that the main reason for continued violence against women is the bias of the international system on the side of power at the expense of justice, which she said was reflected in the absence of tools of accountability and law enforcement among the majority of bodies in the international system, including the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. This is in addition to the bias of bodies capable of enforcing laws, first and foremost the UN Security Council, along with the many obstacles facing international criminal justice, among others.

Meanwhile, MIFTAH’s “Policy Dialogue and Good Governance” Program Director Lamis Hantouli maintained that MIFTAH’s participation in this conference was part of the organization’s presence in meetings and forums that shed light on the reality of Palestinian women in Palestine. She also said it was a reaffirmation of the growing gaps in the system of international protection against Palestinian women, which compounds the level of violence against Palestinian women and also promotes the exerted national, political, social and women’s efforts in this regard so as to achieve international solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Hantouli also said MIFTAH’s participation contributes to supporting efforts to reestablish the place of Palestinian women as a priority on international agendas, especially regarding Women, Peace and Security.